The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairsin South Korea announced yesterday that it is establishing an animal welfare policy division for pets, under its livestock policy bureau. Issues such as these were previously assigned to a team under the livestock environment and welfare division.

The new division, formed to accommodate the growing number of homes in Korea with pets, will serve as a much-needed separate department that is tasked with taking charge of pet-related affairs and policies.

“The animal welfare policy division will tackle major assignments such as: preventing animal-related accidents and protecting animals from being abandoned or mistreated, as well as enhancing the ethical guidelines for animal testing, an official from the Agriculture Ministry noted in a statement. “We think this new division will be one of the busiest departments in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.”

As per the Korea Joongang Daily, the ministry issued the news along with some staggering statistics.

According to the government, the number of households in the country that own a pet has increased by more than 20% in just two years from 4.57 million in 2015 to 5.93 million in 2017.

The number of laboratory animals sadly also increased 18% from 2.51 million, to 3.08 million, while the number of farm animals grew by approximately 1,000 during the same time period.

While the establishment of a department solely dedicated to pet-related issues and policies in Korea is a positive step, the complicated country still has a long way to go when it comes to protecting its dogs.

Horrifically, dogs are still being slaughtered for their meat. There are more than 17,000 dog meat farms across the country.

In South Korea, Soi Dog is working with senior government officials to enact stronger animal welfare laws with the ultimate aim of banning the dog meat industry.

As per its website, this has already led to a ban on the slaughter of dogs at Moran Market, the biggest dog meat market in the capital, Seoul.

Thailand-based Soi Dog, and numerous other animal welfare organizations from around the world, such as, Southern California-based Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation, continue to challenge Asia’s understanding of the barbaric dog meat industry, while making people aware about the massive and unnecessary cruelty involved.

WAN prays that Korea, and many other countries worldwide continue to take monumental steps to protect our precious species!

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